On 15 August, Electrify Ag 2025 brought farmers, researchers, industry leaders, and community voices together at The Hub in Technology Park, Bentley. Hosted by GGA member group AgZero, the event explored how rural Western Australia can embrace the opportunities of a clean energy economy.
Speakers, from farmers and academics to government, finance, project developers and First Nations representatives, shared diverse perspectives on the big questions: What does a good energy transition look like? How can renewables safeguard the future of rural communities?
Several GGA and SW WA Hub partners were involved, including Rob Sands (Farmanco), who highlighted findings from the Hub-funded project Integrating Renewable Energy into Agriculture, addressing both the opportunities and challenges renewable projects pose for farming businesses and local communities.
A key theme that will likely strike a chord with grower groups came from Peta Ashworth (Curtin Institute for Energy Transition), who stressed the need for a “co-designed, place-based and bottom-up approach” to decarbonisation. This perspective strongly aligns with GGA’s role in supporting innovation and capacity building across Western Australia.
As the renewable transition accelerates, ensuring regional and rural businesses and communities have agency in shaping it will be vital, not just to manage the risks, but to secure lasting social and economic benefits for generations to come.
